Three of last week's "Egyptology" words (faience, natron, and Rosetta Stone) were toponyms: words derived from place names. So were two of the words presented the previous week under the "Dirksenian prose" theme (fustian; Chautauqua). So it seems appropriate to follow with a theme of toponyms, even though we've done one recently – particularly since I've recently come across a few more toponyms to add to my list.

We'll start with one more toponym of egyptology.

canopic – relating to an ancient Egyptian jar, etc. used to hold the viscera of an embalmed body[after Canopus, an ancient city in northern Egypt]

The most splendid statue of the dog god was found guarding the great chest which contained the king’s viscera in canopic urns. – Malta Independent, Nov. 22, 2006

Bonus word: viscera – (plural noun; sing. viscus) the internal organs in the main cavities of the body, especially those in the abdomen

bialy – a flat, round baked roll topped with onion flakes (somewhat like a bagel but, unlike the bagel, it is not boiled before baking)[after Bialystok, a city in northeast Poland]

She'd laid on some fresh bialys from Columbia Bagels and some Krispy Kreme donuts for my return.– Anthony Bourdain, Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly

arras – a tapestry wall hanging [after the French town of Arras, where tapestries were made]

You may recall from Hamlet, that Polonius hides behind an arras, to eavesdrop ("Behind the arras I'll convey myself, / To hear the process … ), and that Hamlet stabs him there. As Queen Gertrude relates (Act 4, Scene 1):

Mad as the sea and wind, … in his lawless fit,Behind the arras hearing something stir,Whips out his rapier, cries, 'A rat, a rat!'And, in this brainish apprehension, killsThe unseen good old man.

doolally –UK and India: dotty; eccentric; "nuts"[Indian army slang doolally tap: from Deolali, a town near Bombay, + tap fever]

Let me assure Miss Tsien that our Secretary of State is in no way crackers, dotty or doolally, as the British would say.– New York Times, May 9, 1982

Lawrence Mortimer said, 'As you can tell, my mother went doolally years ago. Me and my wife tried to get her certified in 1999, but her doctor said collecting books wasn't a reason for having her put away.' 'Indeed not', said Mr Carlton-Hayes, 'or I should have been confined to a padded cell many years ago.'– Sue Townsend, Adrian Mole and the Weapons of Mass Destruction

As to meaning: Usages show a mild madness, not necessarily temporary and not enough to call for confinement. Hence I disagree with OED's "[of] an unbalanced state of mind", and Compact OED's "temporarily insane".

As to etymology: Some say Deolali was the site of a sanitarium; some say it was where British soldiers waited, pending transport home after their tour of duty, and were driven mad by heat, idleness and boredom. The tap may be from previous importation of tap as an English term meaning malarial fever (Pers. tap fever, heat), or directly from Urdu tap fever; ultimately it traces to Skr. tapa heat; pain; torment.

In the play, The Producers, the main character's name is Max Bialystok.

quote:

arras – a tapestry wall hanging [after the French town of Arras, where tapestries were made]

You may recall from Hamlet, that Polonius hides behind an arras, to eavesdrop ("Behind the arras I'll convey myself, / To hear the process … ), and that Hamlet stabs him there. As Queen Gertrude relates (Act 4, Scene 1):

Mad as the sea and wind, … in his lawless fit,Behind the arras hearing something stir,Whips out his rapier, cries, 'A rat, a rat!'And, in this brainish apprehension, killsThe unseen good old man.

In St-Exupery's book, Flight to Arras, the main character overflies Arras to spy out concealed German forces. Makes me wonder if St-Ex had Hamlet in mind when he wrote it.

Today's word is not in any on-line dictionary I've found, but it's quite common in the press. I have provided the definition below.

K Street – the political lobbying industry of Washington, D.C.

Democrats are making their comeback on K Street, the metonymic home of Washington's $2.36 billion lobbying business. A gold rush is under way for lobbyists who have an in with the winning team. – Time, Nov. 26, 2006

[Senator] Ken Conrad's Web site proclaims [he] "has been a leading voice for fiscal responsibility" in Washington … [but] the parsimonious Mr. Conrad is attempting to shovel [$4.9 billion of drought relief] into a Senate military construction bill … . If this is the sort of "fiscal discipline" we can expect …, K Street ought to be popping the champagne corks.– Wall Street Journal, Nov. 11, 2006

Bonus words:parsimonious – excessively sparing or frugal metonymy – substituting one word or phrase for another with which it is closely associated, as Washington for the United States government

Two toponyms today. For the former we return to Washington, D.C., which gave us yesterday's word. For the latter we have a familiar word, but you probably did not know it came from a place-name.

Beltway – (typically in the phrase inside the Beltway) the political establishment of Washington, D.C., including federal officeholders, lobbyists, consultants, and media commentators

The sum total of all of these trends has been to produce a crucial gap between the political machinery inside the Beltway and the American public. – Stratfor, Nov. 22, 2006

limousine – a large luxurious car; esp. one with separate compartments for driver and for passengers

Limousine meant originally a heavy shepherd's cloak from the Limousin region of France [centered upon the city of Limoges.] The first chauffeurs, forced to sit in the open air, adopted this coat, and gradually the word transferred itself from the drive to the vehicle. By 1902 it was part of the English language.– Bill Bryson, Made In America (citation omitted)

[Note: Wikipedia has a different explanation: "The limousine car is named after the region because the inhabitants wore a hood with a profile perceived to be similar to that of the car."